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Medieval Mainz
|- | width="50%"|'Capital' | width="50%"|Mainz |- |'Government' |Republic |- class="mergedtoprow" |'Historical era' |Middle Ages |- class="mergedrow" | - City established |''ca'' 13 BC |- class="mergedrow" | - City charter granted by Abp Siegfried III | 1244 |- class="mergedrow" | - Rival archbishops |1461 |- class="mergedrow" | - Charter revoked by Abp Adolph II | 1462 |- class="mergedbottomrow" | - German Mediatisation |1803 |- |'Today part of' | Germany |} Mainz in Christendom In the early Middle Ages, Mainz was a centre for the Christianisation of the German and Slavic peoples. The first Archbishop in Mainz, Boniface, was killed in 754 while trying to convert the Frisians to Christianity and is buried in Fulda. Other early archbishops of Mainz include Rabanus Maurus, the scholar and author, and Willigis (975–1011), who began construction on the current building of the Mainz Cathedral and founded the monastery of St. Stephan. EnlargeMonument to St. Boniface before Mainz CathedralEnlargeSt. Martin's Cathedral in Mainz, by Wenzel Hollar ;pen-and-ink drawing 1632From the time of Willigis until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Archbishops of Mainz were archchancellors of the Empire and the most important of the seven Electors of the German emperor. Besides Rome, the diocese of Mainz today is the only diocese in the world with an episcopal see that is called a Holy See (sancta sedes). The Archbishops of Mainz traditionally were primas germaniae, the substitutes of the Pope north of the Alps. In 1244, Archbishop Siegfried III granted Mainz a city charter, which included the right of the citizens to establish and elect a city council. The city saw a feud between two Archbishops in 1461, namely Diether von Isenburg, who was elected Archbishop by the cathedral chapter and supported by the citizens, and Adolf II von Nassau, who had been named Archbishop for Mainz by the Pope. In 1462, the Archbishop Adolf II raided the city of Mainz, plundering and killing 400 inhabitants. At a tribunal, those who had survived lost all their property, which was then divided between those who promised to follow Adolf II. Those who would not promise to follow Adolf II (amongst them Johannes Gutenberg) were driven out of the town or thrown into prison. The new Archbishop revoked the city charter of Mainz and put the city under his direct rule. Ironically, after the death of Adolf II his successor was again Diether von Isenburg, now legally elected by the chapter and named by the Pope. Early Jewish community The Jewish community of Mainz dates to the 10th century CE. It is noted for its religious education. Rabbi Gershom ben Judah (960–1040) taught there, among others. He concentrated on the study of the Talmud, creating a German Jewish tradition. The Jews of Mainz, Speyer and Worms created a supreme council to set standards in Jewish law and education in the 12th century. The city of Mainz responded to the Jewish population in a variety of ways, behaving, in a sense, in a bipolar fashion towards them. Sometimes they were allowed freedom and were protected; at other times, they were persecuted. The Jews were expelled in 1012, 1462 (after which they were invited to return), and in 1474. Jews were attacked by mobs in 1283. Outbreaks of the Black Death were usually blamed on the Jews, at which times they were massacred, such as the burning of Jews alive in 1349. This unstable pattern, which was not typical for Mainz only, but for whole Europe at that time, went on until World War II. Nowadays the Jewish community is growing rapidly, and a new synagogue is under construction on the site of the one destroyed under the Third Reich.5 The community itself has 1,034 members, according to the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and at least twice as many Jews altogether since many are unaffiliated with Judaism. Category:Medieval Mainz Category:Mainz Category:Christianization Category:Medieval Christendom Category:Medieval Germany